Improvement in corn-planters



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT BURNS, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEM ENT IN CORN-PLANTERS.

Specification forming partof Letters Patent No. 48,65-L-dn'ted July 11. 1895.l

To all whom it may concer/t.

Be it known that I, ROBERT BURNS, of the. city, county, and State of New York, have invented anew and Improved Corn-Planter; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,

clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same,reterence bcinghad tothe accompanying drawings, forming part oi' this specification, in which- Figure 1, Sheet No. l, is a rear view of my invention; Fig. 2, a plan or top view of the same. Fig. 3, SheetNo. 2, is an enlarged section ofthe same, taken in the line x fr, Fig. 1. Fig. '4 is an enlarged section of theV same, taken .in the line y y, Fig. 1'; Fig. 5, Aan enlarged secing or clogging, and the seed-distributing apf paratus rendered inoperative whenever desired'l -as,for instance, in drawing the machine from place to place, turning at the ends of rows, Src'.i

A represents an axle, having a wheel, B, at each end of it, and two thills, C C, attached, which extend beyond the rear of the axle and have the driveis seat I) attached. v

E represents seed-boxes, which are secured to the rear side of the axle A. Any number of these seed-boxes may be used; but for dropping seed in hills one at or near each end of the axle will he suflicient. Underneath the seed-boxes E there are secured tubes F, which are fixed or permanent, and have their outer or rear sides composed of a series of vertical wires or rods, to form a grating which will retain the seed in the tubes and at the same time admit of seed supports or holders G working in them, the seed supports or holders being composed ot' curved barsv a, secured horizontally to the lower end of a vertical rod, b. The rods b are iittedin sockets c, which are attached to bent levers H, the fnlcrum-pins of which are fixtures connected therewith. (See Figs. 4 and 5.) The levers H also have arms cat their outer fitted in bearin g attached to Jthe seed-boxes or parts, the ends of said arms being bcnt upward toform a hook or lip,f, to serve as a stop and prevent the seed supports or holders` G being drawn out from the tubes F. (See Fig. 4.)

I represents seed-plates, which work directly over the tubes F, between them and the seed- `boxes These seed-plates are also attached to bent levers J, as shownin Figs-4 and 5, and the bent levers H J ofthe two seed-boxes are connected by rods K. These rods K, at one end, are connected to springs L, which have a tendency to keep the plates I underneath the seed-boxes and prevent? seed from being discharged into the tubes F, and also to keep the seed supports or holders G in the tubes F. The rod. K ot' the bent lovers H is connectedat one end'to a lever, M, which is operated by teeth g at one side ot' a toothed wheel, IT, and the-rod K of the lever J is connected to a lever, O, similar to M, and which is operated by teeth h, also on wheel N. The teeth g h are so arranged on' wheel N that the plates I and holders Gr will be operated alternately, the plates I, when drawn outwardf'rom underneath theseed-boxes, allowing the seed to drop into the tubes F, which seed is retained by the holders Gr, and the 1atter,when

the plates I are thrown underneath the seedboxes, by the spring L connected with them, are drawn outward to allow of the discharge ofthe seed from the tubes F. n

The capacity of the tubes F may be varied, as desired, by adjusting the holders Gr higher or lower in said tubes, which is done by moving the rods b in the sockets c and securing them at the desired point bya set-screw, i. By this means, more or less grains of corn may be -dropped in the hills, as required* rEhe Wheel N has its axis ina pendent lever, P, the lower end of which is connected by a 1i-nk,j, with a crank, it, on a shaft, Q. By this arrangement the wheel N may be thrown in and ont of gear with a Wheel, It, on the hub of one of the wheels B, and the seed-distributingdevice rendered operative or inoperative when desired. The'seed Ais discharged from the tubes F into adjustable tubes S, whichwork on pivots l, in order to ad mit ot' the space between the rows being made of greater or'less' width, as may be desired-a result obtained by adjusting the tubes S. on

their pivots.

The i'urrows to receive the seed are mudo by furrow-openers T, attached to -l'rames "il, thc front ends of which are connected byjnints to pendants m, secured to a cross-bar, V, attached to the thills.

At the rear ot' each frame U, and in line with the furrow-openers T, there are attached coverers W, the same being composed of two ilaring plates, n n, and a vertical plate, o, at their rear, to serve to press down and com pact the earth upon the seed. These frames U may be raised and the furrow-openers T elevated tree from the ground by having the rear of frames U connected by ehainsp to arms q extending from the shaft Q. The Wheel N is also provided with teeth r, which actnate the lever X, the lower end ot which is connected to a spring or elastic arm, Y, which serves as a knocker, to act against the lower partof the seed-box. This arm Y is connected by a rod, s, with a similar 1rni,Y/, which acts against the other seed-boX. These knockers etectually prevent the seedooxes from becoming choked or clogged.

' I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The tnbesF, provided with vertical rods or a grating at their outer or rear sides, in conA nection'with the adjustable seed retainers or holders G, arranged to operate substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The plates I, in combination with the seed retainers or holders G, all arrange to operate eonjointly, substantially as described.

3. The wheel N, provided with teeth g h r at one side, and arranged, as shown, so as to be readily thrown in and out of' gear with the wheel R, in combination with the levers M O X, for operating the plates I, seed retainers or holders G, and knockers Y Y', for the purposes set forth.

,4. The frames U, suspended by the pendants m, in combination with the furrow openers T and adjustable coverers, consisting ot' the dan ing plates n and plate o, arranged to operate in the manner and for the objects specified.

ROBERT BURNS.

Witnesses:

M. M. LIVINGSTON, C. L. ToPLIFF. 

